Railway time-signal



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. H. ADAMS. RAILWAY TIME SIGNAL.

No. 509,785. Patented Nov. 28; 1893.

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(No Model.) 2 Shets--Shee t 2;

BHJ DAMS. RAILWAY TIME SIGNAL.

No. 509,785. Patented Novr28, 1893.

El.jiifla?ams,

Witnesses U N-ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELI H. ADAMS, OF FITCHBURG, MASSACHUSETTS.

RAILWAY TIME-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 509,785, datedNovember 28, 1893.

Application filed June 16,1893- Serial No. 4=7'7,822. (No model.)

To aZZ whomit may concern.-

Be it known that I, ELI H. ADAMS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fitchburg, in the county of Worcester and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a. new and useful Automatic Signal-Clock,of which the followmg 1s a specification.

This invention relates to automatic signal clocks; and it has for itsobject to provide an improved clock of this character, which will beespecially useful for railway stations at which there is no operator,and to automatically indicate to the engineer of each passing train theexact time which has elapsed since the train ahead of him has passedthat station.

To this end the main and primary object of the present invention is toprovide an automatically controlled signal clock forrailway servicehaving certain novel features of construction which well adapt the samefor its use.

WVith these and other objects in view which Will readily appear as thenature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in thenovel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinaftermore fully described, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a perspective View of anautomatic signal clock constructed in accordance with thisinvention,arranged convenient to a railway, and also sho Wing anadjacenttrack and the connections for automatically controlling theclock. Fig. 2 isaside elevation of a portion of a clock mechanism havingthe improved signal devices connected therewith. Fig. 3 is a centralvertical sectional View of the apparatus. Fig. 4 'is a transversesectional view on the line a:ac of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detailperspective of the sliding shaft or arbor sleeve, mounted in frontof thecam flange. FigxG is an enlarged detail sectional viewof the casingfront. Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail elevation, showing clearly theoperation of the disengaging arm in connection with the stop dog.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, A represents a clock caseadapted to be arranged adjacent to the track B, so as to be convenientlyobserved by the engineers of passing trains, and said clock case isprovided wltha removable glass front 0, and an inclosing side door B.The clock case A, is adapted to receive theframe E, having a rear sideboard F, and a removable dial frame G, arising from the front edgethereof in rear of the glass front 0, of the casing, and provided withthe side grooves g, to receive the opaque or other suitable dial H, onwhich are painted in conspicuous colors the ordinary clock dial numeralsranging from 1 to 12, and in the present invention designed to indicatefrom one minute up to the sixty minutes, whereby the hand traveling overthe dial will indicate to the engineer the exact time which the lasttrain is ahead of him as will be more fully explained, and directly inrear of the dial H, and supported on the frame E, is a lamp 7%, whichinsures the figures of the dial being seen at night time.

Securely attached to the rear side board F, of the frame E, is anordinary clock mechanism 1, having the main minute hand shaft or arborJ, which is operated by the mechanism, and is designed to make onecomplete revolution of the dial in one hour, and said shaft or arbor J,is provided with a forward extension K, which projects beyond theframehof the mechanism and through the central opening of the dial H.The minute hand shaft or arbor J, carries at a point just ous'ideof theframe of the mechanism I, the clutch collar L, which is adapted to becarried around with the shaft, and which is normally engaged by theinner toothed or clutch end M, of the sliding shaft sleeve N. Thesliding shaft sleeve N, is of a length corresponding to the length ofthe shaft extension K, and has attached to its outer shouldered end a,outside of the dial H, the indicating hand 0, which travels overthe'face of the dial, and indicates the number of minutes which it hastraveled from the starting point 12, from which it begins a new travelafter each passing train. The said sliding shaft sleeve is furtherprovided at its outer end with the spring-receiving socket 0, adapted toreceive the spiral spring 0', arranged on the outer end of the shaftextension K, and normally tending to slide the sleeve in a directionwhich causes its inner clutch end to engage the clutch collar of thehand shaft or arbor J, so that as suchshaft or arbor is revolved bythecloekmechanism, the sleeve with its attached hand is also zevolvedsoas to give the proper dial indicaion.

Securely attached to the frame of the clock mechanism and projectinglaterally there- 5 from is the off-standing circular cam flange or ringP. The flange or ring P, encircles the clutch device L, M, and isprovided with an outer inclined or cam edge 19, over which is adapted toride the disengaging arm Q, pro ected from the clutch end M, of theshaft sleeve N, so that as the said sleeve revolves together with theshaft extension, the disengaging arm travels up to a point of the inchned or cam edge, at which the clutch end of the sleeve will be causedto be automatically. disengaged or thrown out of gear with the clutchcollar of the shaft, when the hand has reached its limit point on thedial,which of course has been previously determined. When thedisengaging arm Q, has been revolved to a point on the edge 19, so thatthe shaft sleeve has been thrown out of engagement with the shaft, thesaid disengaging arm is at such point automatically engaged by theshouldered spring actuated stop dog R, pivoted to the outside of theflange or ring P, and normally pressed beyond the outer edge thereof.The stop dog R, therefore serves to hold the shaft sleeve stationary andout of engagement with the shaft while the clock mechanism stillcontinues to work, until the said shaft sleeve is again automaticallythrown into gear with the shaft by the mechanism which I shall nowproceed to describe. Fastened at its inner end to the top of the camflange or ring P, is the off-standing bracket arm S, having an outerbifurcated end adapted to pivotally receive the upper end of the hangingpendulum lever T. The hanging pendulum lever T, is provided with a lowerweighted end 75, which normally holds the lever in a vertical positionand intermediate of its ends the said pendulum lever is provided with ahook or yoke U, adapted to loosely embrace the shaft sleeve N, at oneside of the flange shoulder 10, formed thereon at the inside of the dialH. To the lower weighted extremity of the hanging pendulum lever isattached the trip wire V, which passes outside of the clock casing,around suitable guide pulleys o, and is attached at its outer end to thelaterally sliding spring rail 1;. The laterally sliding spring railo, issuitably arranged on the track B, at one side of one of g the railsthereof, so that the flanges of the car wheels will pass between thetrack rail and the spring rail, so as to move the latter away from theformer and thereby pull on the trip wire V. This motion pulls out thelower end of the hanging pendulum lever T, so as to draw the sameagainst the flange shoulder a, of the shaft sleeve, thereby drawing thesaid shaft out against the tension of the spring so that the disengagingarm Q, will 65 be drawn away fro 1n the shouldered dog R, therebyleaving the shaft sleeve free to revolve under the tension of the sleeverevolvstanding bracket arm ing spring W. The sleeve revolving spring W,is attached at one end as at w, to the OE- S, and is coiled on thegrooved drum disk 'X. The drum disk X, is slotted at one side as at as,so as to fit the flattened portion'w', of the shaft sleeve, therebyproviding aconnection with the said shaft sleeve, so that the drum diskturns therewith in one direction to wind up the spring thereon, andrevolves with the shaft in an opposite direction when the spring isallowed to exert its tension by the releasement of the disengaging arinQ, from the dog B. As the trip wire V, is drawn out by the means justdescribed, the tension of the shaft revolving spring W, will quicklyrevolve the sleeve back to a position at which the hand, carriedthereby, will stand at its starting point l2, and this movementof theshaft sleeve is checked by the stop projection Y, extended outwardlyfrom one side of the cam flange or ring P, and adapted to be engaged bythe disengaging arm Q, when the shaft sleeve returns to aposition so asto allow its clutch end to engage the clutch collar of the main shaft orarbor.

Now from the foregoing it is thought that the operation of the hereindescribed signal clock will be readily apparent to those skilled in theart. In the first place it is to be remembered that the clock isdesigned to indicate the time that a train has passed a given point upto fifty or more minutes, and therefore the apparatus is constructed soas to give the indicating hand a travel. from one to fifty minutes,which is the limit of its travel. Assuming that a train has just passedthe point at which the signal clock is located, the shaft sleeve willthen be in engagement with the shaft on which it is mounted,so as torevolve therewith and cause the hand to start on its travel from thepoint 12. This operation continues anywhere inside of fifty minutesuntil another train reaches the signal point. When the second trainreaches the clock, the engineer sees exactly what length of time haselapsed since the passing of the last train, and can regulate hismovements accordingly. As this second train passes the'signal point, theflanges of the wheels will move out the spring rail i), so as to draw onthe pendulum lever T, as herein described, which operation will throwthe shaft sleeve out of engagement with the shaft and allow the same torevolve back under the tension of the revolving spring W, to thestarting point of the indicating hand, at which point the shaft sleeveagain is pressed into gear with the clutch of the shaft by means of thespring'o. If the shaft sleeve has revolved sufiiciently far so as tocarry the indicating hand to its limit, it is automatically thrown outof gear with the clock mechanism by reason of the cam flange.

or ring P, and is held out of engagement at this point by means of thedog R, until another train passes the signal point as already described.

The clock herein described possesses many points of merit, and theoperation involved may be also secured by slight modifications of theconstruction specified, and I will therefore have it understood thatchanges in the form, proportion and the minor details of constructionmay be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificingany of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed, and desired to besecured by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an automatic signal clock, the dial, the revolving clock mechanismshaft having a clutch collar turning therewith, a sleeve loosely mountedon said shaft and having a clutch end adapted to engage said clutchcollar and at its opposite end a spring socket, a spring arranged insaid socket and having one end engaging the sleeve to normally hold theclutch end thereof in engagement with said clutch collar, a handattached to the socket end of said sleeve, and means for automaticallythrowing the sleeve in and out of engagement with said clutch collar,and also for automatically turning the sleeve to a fixed starting point,substantially as set forth.

2. In an automatic signal clock, the combination of the revolving clockmechanism shaft having a clutch collar, a sleeve loosely mounted on saidshaft and having a clutch end adapted to engage said clutch collar, andat its other end a socket, a spring attached to the shaft and arrangedin the socket of the sleeve to normally hold the same in engagement withsaid clutch collar, means for automatically throwing the sleeve out ofengagement with the clutch collar,a slotted drumremovably fitted on thesleeve, a spring coiled in said drum and fastened at one end to astationary point of attachment, the dial, the hand mounted on one end ofthe sleeve, and a trip device, substantially as set forth.

3. In an automatic signal clock, a suitably arranged dial, the clockmechanism having an extension shaft carrying a clutch collar, a camflange or ring encircling the shaft and its collar and having a stop ata high point thereon, a spring pressed sleeve mounted on the extensionshaft and having a clutch end normally held into engagement with saidclutch collar, and an off-standing disengaging arm adapted to ride onthe cam flange or ring up to and into engagement with the stop there--on the hand attached to one end of said sleeve, and an automatic devicefor releasing the sleeve from said top and turning the same to a fixedstarting point, substantially as set forth.

4. In an automatic signal clock, a suitably arranged dial, the clockmechanism having an extension shaft carryingthe clutch collar, a camflange or ring encircling the shaft and its collar and provided with astop projection, a spring pressed sleeve mounted on the extension shaftand having a clutch end normally engaging said clutch collar, and anoffstanding disengaging arm adapted to ride over the cam flange or ringin one direction, and to contact with said stop projection in theopposite direction, a sleeve -revolving spring attached to a suitablepoint of attachment at one end and at its other end to said sleeve toWind thereon in one direction, and a trip device for said sleeve topermit the revolving spring to act thereon, substantially as set forth.

5. In an automatic signal clock, the dial, the clock mechanism having anextension shaft carrying a clutch collar, a cam flange or ringencircling the shaft and its collar, a spring pressed sleeve looselymounted on the extension shaft and carrying an indicating hand at oneend, said sleeve having an inner clutch end normally engaging saidclutch collar, an off-standing disengaging arm adapted to ride over thecam flange or ring in one direction, and a shoulder intermediate of itsends, a spring-actuated shouldered dog pivoted to the cam flange or ringand adapted to automatically engage under said disengaging arm to holdthe same at the limit of its movement in one direction, a sleeverevolving spring attached to a suitable point of attachment at one endand at its other end to said sleeve, a hanging level-embracing thesleeve 5 at one side of its shoulder, a trip wire attached to one end ofsaid lever, and an automatic rail device connected with said trip wire,to draw the lever against the sleeve shoulder to relieve the sleeve fromthe clutch 10o collar, as well as its disengaging arm from said dog,substantially as set forth.

6. In an automatic signal clock, the dial, the clock mechanism having anextension shaft carrying aclutch collar, a spring pressed sleeve looselymounted on the extension shaft and carrying an indicating hand at oneend, said sleeve having an inner clutch end normally engaging the clutchcollar, and a flanged shoulder, an ofE-stan ding bracket arm secured Ito at one end to a suitable point of attachment above said arm and thesleeve thereon, a grooved drum disk mounted fast on the sleeve,

a shaft revolving spring attached at one end to said bracket arm andwinding and unwinding on said drum disk, a weighted hanging pendulumlever pivoted at its upper end to one end of said bracket arm and havingan intermediate hook or yoke loosely embracing the sleeve at one side ofits flange shoul- [2o der, and an automatically controlled trip wireattached at one end to the lower end of said pendulum lever,substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ELI H. ADAMS. Witnesses:

EDWIN WARREN, WALTER E. ELLIs.

